When Everett Mayor Ed Hansen announced more than a year ago that he was stepping down to tackle challenges at the Snohomish County PUD, many residents wondered why they had to wait so long to vote for a new mayor.

The waiting comes to an end on Nov. 4, when voters choose between current mayor Frank Anderson and challenger Ray Stephanson to complete the final two years of Hansen’s four-year term.

In a close call between two qualified candidates, our nod goes to Stephanson, whose financial background and vision for regional participation are best suited to keeping the city on the healthy path blazed by Hansen.

Everett is on the cusp of revitalization, as many leaders and officials like to point out. It’s time to push the city over the cusp. A strong regional presence will put Everett in a better position to benefit from efforts to diversify Western Washington’s struggling economy and ease traffic congestion.

Stephanson believes the mayor should take a strong role in being a regional player. Anderson said he supports regionalism, too, but would approach it more cautiously because he believes Everett has been hurt in the past. Take care of things in Everett first, Anderson argues.

Anderson and Stephanson also disagree on the state of the city’s finances, and it isn’t a black-and-white issue. Stephanson is critical of the administration’s preliminary 2004 budget and strategic outlook for budgets in coming years, which he says show a gap between revenues and expenditures. Anderson insists the budget and reserve funds are solid. While things are hardly in dire shape yet, the fact that the city faces an uncertain economic future and the responsibility of paying into a police and fire pension plan with rising medical costs cannot be minimized.

Stephanson has extensive experience as a business and city leader. Before his bid for mayor he started a Dallas-based division for Verizon Communications. Before that he was an Everett City Council member, then executive director of the city under Hansen.

Anderson, a former Everett firefighter, brings more than 12 years experience as a City Council member and interim mayor as well as experience in running a small business. To his credit, he has taken full ownership of his responsibilities as mayor and made the most of his opportunity to demonstrate his priorities. He has made good efforts to build bridges and spur economic development — an example of the latter being his decision to name the talented Lanie McMullin the city’s economic development director.

The next two years are critical for Everett, with the economy struggling to rebound and a heavy investment riding on the success of the new Everett Events Center. Everett needs a leader willing to aggressively pursue regional partnerships that will benefit the city and lead to economic growth. While many of Anderson’s efforts are headed in the right direction, we believe Stephanson’s vision and experience make him the stronger choice.